The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
It is known in the art that hand splitting of logs is a tedious, back breaking job. It is also costly and time consuming to any business which finds it necessary to split logs as a step or part of a manufacturing operation, or in the production of an end item, such as firewood. Further, hand loading of a log onto a log splitter can be a difficult task for larger log. It is desirable to have some assistance with this loading of the log into the log splitter.
Typically, wood splitting mechanisms operate by driving a wedge into a log either by pushing the log onto the wedge, or by forcing a wedge into a log. Many conventional kinetic log splitters force a stationary rack onto a moving pinion which is hard on both the machine and the operator pushing down on the rack.
One problem from the current power devices is the fact that the log being split can become stuck on the wedge. When the log is stuck on the wedge, a substantial amount of hand work can be required to loosen the log. Also some of the prior art devices have semi-circular bases which cause excess log splitting forces when logs wedge against the semi-circular log holder. The prior art devices teach that the holding mechanism must position the log properly. The design of these holding mechanisms limit the size of the logs to be split.
Other proposals have involved log splitting mechanisms. The problem with these splitting mechanisms is that they do not provide a blade that is dimensioned to optimize cutting efficiency. Also, the log does not have a surface to rest on for orienting before driving into the log for splitting. There are also safety concerns, since the operator is fully exposed to the blade and flying debris from the log as it is being split. Even though the above cited splitting mechanisms meet some of the needs of the market, a collapsible log splitting assembly with safety perimeter splits a log with a parabolic-shaped blade, a blade housing having a plurality of ridges for separating the split log further, and a perimeter barrier for retaining the log upright while splitting, and protecting an operator from contact with blade is still desired.